Heartfelt Cards
by Mein Liebling
Summary: Souta gave Kagome her own personalized deck of Duel Monsters cards, and Kagome decides to use them as her last link to her friends of the past- with some help from Yugi and the gang and her old school friends. [For Javy.]
1. Cards

She was silent as she sat on her childhood pink bed and held the bittersweet card deck that Souta had given her that morning- her birthday. Her fingers were long and callused, the finely trained muscles moving quickly as she shuffled and reshuffled her deck. Her black hair that was cut sloppily short earlier that day hung uneven in her face, and she constantly moved one hand upwards to push it out of her dull eyes.

She- Kagome Higurashi, Shikon no Tama Miko and currently broken hearted teenager- hesitantly picked up the first card lying on the top of the deck and her throat tightened unbearably.

It was a Spell Card- named "The Kitsune's Curse"- and had the image of a small orange boy in mid air, laughing as he threw a blue ball of energy at an unseen foe. It tricked the foe into thinking that player had taken control of one of their Duel Monsters (while in reality it remained still on the playing field, a brilliant illusion) and therefore the foe would end up destroying their own monster whilst still having it in their deck. A useful card.

Kagome let out a shaky sigh as she set down the card and stared at the little boy that looked so much like her little one. Souta must of gotten ahold of some of her drawings and sent them in to have the deck made just for her- and she appreciated the sentiment almost as much as she loathed the reminder of all she had lost.

The Miko ran her finger over the classic design on the back of the card before picking up the next in her deck.

Kouga stared right at her with a cheeky and flirty wink. He was a powerful attack monster that specialized in fast attacks, no matter if it was a magical or physical attack. It caused great damage to their enemies, but a good hit would have him permanently out of that game unless she revived him from the graveyard, which took quite a few lifepoints from her. All in all he had a terrible defense, but from what she remembered of a few instances that he tried to "save" her, it wasn't far off the mark.

She set him down next to Shippo and grabbed the next card, before immediately placing it back down. Tears sprung into her eyes and she rapidly tried to wipe them away. No, she was not ready for that.

Kagome set down the card deck on the floor and buried herself in her bed, startling Buyo who glared at her halfheartedly before curling up next to the girl. No, not yet. Soon, but not so near to the anniversary.

Inuyasha's card remained face down, in defense mode.

* * *

"Oi, Yug! Wanna get some burgers after school?"

Yugi Mutou lifted his head up just enough to stare at his friend, before grinning brightly and nodding. "Uh! Sure! Gramps won't mind, I don't think."

Jounouchi flashed him a thumbs up with a giant smile ,before slouching down in the seat next to him. "So, Yugs, how ya doin'?"

"Good! I've nearly finished my deck- Gramps gave me a couple more cards, and now I'm almost to my goal!"

"Hehehe, that's great!" Jou cheered. "I'm pretty far on mine too- ya know, with Red Eyes and all I'm a shoe in to win all my games! Unless they're against you, bud, in which I don't stand a chance."

Yugi shook his head. "Not true! You almost had me last time with that Spell and Trap combo!"

They talked animatedly about whether or not Jou was going to beat Yugi some day (Jou disagreed whilst Yugi fought adimately that yes, with the way he was rapidly improving, that day would come soon) until the teacher entered the classroom and told all the students to sit down and get out their notebooks.

Yugi fiddled with his Dark Magician card he always kept in his pocket before sighing and listening to his teacher. He needed a good duel.

* * *

Kagome had a large, genuine smile on her face as Yuka, Ayumi, and Eri dragged her around the small town they had spontaneously decided to visit that day. It wasn't a particular special town (other than the fact that many of the Duel Monsters' champions resided there, which was one of the biggest hits Kagome had missed while she was in the past, and that Kaiba Corp's main building was there, but that was less important) but it had good food and enough shopping to keep the four of them entertained.

After spending the whole afternoon flittering around the main shopping center ("Oh my god this is so cute," Ayumi squealed as she held up the dress. "And it's- _8,139 Yen!?" _she held the dress away from her and stared at it sadly. "That's my entire paycheck! Oh darn it!") before they sat down to eat at one of the cheap burger places for a snack.

"So, Kags!" Eri leaned forward and stared at the black haired girl, who was sipping on her drink. "What do you think about Duel Monsters?"

"Duel Monsters?" Kagome repeated. "I didn't think you were interested in it, Eri."

"Oh, I'm not." she waved it away. "But have you seen some of the people who do? Goddamn."

Yuka snorted, before trying to cover it with a cough. "Eri's just interested in that, but I'm personally interested in it. Do you like it Kagome? I mean, I know you're far behind thanks to your fatal illnesses-"

The Miko cringed at the reminder of whatever story her grandfather had given her friends.

"-But surely you've heard about Duel Monsters."

Kagome nodded her head and grabbed one of the fries from Ayumi's plate, much to the other girl's displeasure. "Uh-huh, I've heard about it. Souta's all over it, he, uhm, explained it all to me." she paused for a few moments before reaching in her pocket and pulling out her deck, which she had tied with a ribbon to keep it from falling apart. "Souta got me a handmade set."

The girls gasped and leaned forward as Yuka held up some of the cards, reading out loud the names. "'Inu Warrior', 'Killing Perfection', 'The Kitsune's Curse'... Wow, Kags, these are really, really powerful cards!" The group's enthusiast complimented as she flicked through Kagome's deck. "Really, they're _amazing. _And to have a entire deck that's not only playable but one of a kind, this must have cost a fortune to be made!"

"Really?" Kagome couldn't fathom why Souta would spend so much money on her, she would definitely talk to him- and _maybe_ buy him that new video game he had been talking about for months to pay him back.

The door to the burger place flew open and loud laughter floated through towards them. Kagome watched the group of teens- their hair must obviously be dyed since half of them had the most _unnatural _hair colours (although who was she to talk about? Inuyasha and Sesshomaru had silver hair.)- before turning back to Yuka and Ayumi, who were oohing over her cards, and laughed as Eri stole the rest of Ayumi's french fries, much to Ayumi's horror as she made their short haired friend go up and buy her another thing of fries.

"So Yug!" Man, those highschool kids (she was assuming) were loud. "When are ya gonna beat Kaiba in another duel? I've been itching to see 'im knocked down a few! Preferably by me, but you always beat him so it's much more fun to watch."

"Duel?" Yuka tilted her head. "They must like Duel Monsters as well."

"Well it is the most popular thing around," Ayumi pointed out.

"Jou, you can beat him now, I'm sure of it!"

The loud blond kid, Jou, laughed and scratched the back of his head. "I bet I could! But not when he has three Blue Eyes. Red Eyes can only take so much you know?"

The brown haired kid with an almost-mohawk shoved Jou. "What is this? The great Katsuya Jounouchi admitting that _Seto Kaiba _can defeat him?"

"I can beat that bastard with my hands tied behind my back!" Jou barked. "Just not while he still plays that old Blue Eyes trick."

Yuka seemed absolutely absorbed in eavesdropping on the teens' conversation. "Blue Eyes? Blue Eyes White Dragon? It's rumoured that Seto Kaiba has a few, the number however is unknown..."

Kagome took back her cards and shuffled them in her hand, pulling out Shippo's card and staring at it for a little while before placing it back and pulling up Miroku's. Ah. Souta had managed to even get the maker's to perfect that perverted look. She was amazed at the quality.

Eri rolled her eyes as she set down the fries and scooted down next to Kagome. "You just love the gossip, Yuka." she accused.

"And you don't?" the incoming university student shot back.

Eri shrugged. "Takes one to know one."

Kagome picked at the corner of one of the cards- 'Killing Perfection' read the bold lettering, and she thought that it was absolutely perfect for Sesshomaru given how well they matched his personality (maybe she had told Souta one too many stories behind Mama's back)- and let her eyes scan over the words she had memorized after nights of reading them over and over.

"Oi, are those Duel Monster cards?"

The four of their group looked up to see the blond guy- Jounouchi, Kagome remembered- looking at her curiously as he stared at her cards. The rest of his group came over as well, although the only girl in the group immediately apologized and hit Jou for bugging them.

"No, no, it's alright. And yeah, these are Duel Monsters cards. I haven't gotten around to playing with them, however, so if you're looking for a duel I'm no match." Kagome tried to wave him off.

"Hey, that's no problem! Next time we see each other, we'll have ta duel each other though! Agreed?" Jou smiled at her.

Kagome grinned. "Agreed."

"What kind of deck is that? I've never seen that card before." Yugi leaned forward and looked at her top card that she had face up- Shippo's card.

"It's... my Inu Deck. All cards are one of a kind."

The entire group's eyes widened. "One of a kind? Wow, I bet even the Kaiba bastard doesn't have an entire one of a kind deck!" Jou blinked.

Kagome continued to grin, but it turned slightly sheepish. "Yeah..."

"Jou, don't be rude!" the girl once again smacked Jou's arm. "I'm Anzu, nice to meet you."

"Kagome, likewise."

The rest of them introduced themselves- Yuka was absolutely astounded to learn that the kids were some of the most well known duelers _in the country _and immediately asked to see their decks, which the boys happily did- and ended up pulling up chairs and sitting with the girls.

Kagome leaned back against the sticky red seat and smiled at Yugi who was curiously staring at her, before letting out a sigh as she picked up Inuyasha's card and stared at it.

_Inu Warrior._

High level of attack and defense points. Caused great damage. Wielded a sword that was able to slice through all enemies below his level, no matter what defense they had.

She pressed a hand over her mouth and let out a shaky breath.

It was a tribute to her past and she wasn't going to forget it.

"So, Yugi, could you tell me some of the rules to dueling?"

He looked absolutely delighted.

* * *

_**Dedicated with plotbunny by my amazing friend Javy, aka J.F.C.**_

_**It didn't turn out quite as I would have liked but I got most of the points I wanted and that's good enough for me. I will edit it later however.**_

_**Unbeta'd for now.**_

_**I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh! or Inuyasha.**_


	2. Shivers

"Kagome! I'm home!" Mama Higurashi called out into her house, as she set down her groceries on the kitchen table. She unpacked the first bag and paused, before calling out again, "Kagome?" Usually she would have been there by now, helping her put them away, but the house was completely silent of teenaged girls yelling 'Sure mom!' or light footsteps.

Mama Higurashi smiled, and started humming to herself. It was nice to see Kagome going out, which was such a rarity after she came back from the Feudal Era. Kagome had thrown herself into her school work and shrine duties so she wouldn't focus on her grief of not being able to go back, but when Souta gave her her birthday present of personalized Duel Monsters cards Mama feared she would relapse. Kagome was stronger then she gave her credit for, Mama Higurashi thought fondly. She could take anything the world threw at her.

"Now, what should I make for snack?" She asked the empty house.

* * *

"So then Yugi jumped out of his chair and let out this _hilarious- _I can't describe it as anything but a battle-cry-"

"I didn't let out a _battle-cry _Anzu-"

Kagome let out a light laugh at how embarrassed Yugi seemed, as Anzu and Jou recounted a story from their childhood, more specifically, the first time Yugi beat his Grandfather at chess. Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi were having fun as well, she thought, because they were all covering their mouths to hide their laughter as Honda made obscene faces at Jou, who had stolen his fries much like Eri had done.

Yugi's and her own friends meshed together perfectly despite the differences in age, and Kagome couldn't help but feel more at peace with the large amount of chattering people around her. Her deck of cards had been passed around for everyone to look at, and Yugi and Jou immediately jumped at the chance to teach her how to use her impressive deck of cards, but no matter how well she had been able to follow along she still got lost in their passionate speeches. Kagome nearly snickered at the thought. She had promised them that they could always meet up again and attempt to teach her once more.

With it being summer, or at least all students were out on break, the cheap burger restaurant was packed with families and groups of friends. Kagome was squished between Yuka and Jou after they had to play musical chairs to get everyone to fit into the small booth, and even then did they have to pull up chairs. It was loud and hot, the air smelled like grease, and people were talking all around her.

Kagome hadn't felt so at peace since before she left the Feudal Era.

Ayumi was talking to Anzu about the latest gossip. "So is it true that Seto Kaiba has a Blue Eyes White Dragon?"

Anzu nodded and took a sip of her drink. "Yep! In fact, he has more then one. I think he has four, but I don't know, I'm not as big into Duel Monsters as the others. I'd like to be a dancer, you see."

Eri joined into their discussion. "Really? A dancer! Oooh, that sounds so great! You're amazing no doubt, I'm sure of it, you're so graceful!"

Anzu blushed lightly, but Kagome felt like she was flattered and pleased, and figured that nobody really took her dream of dancing too seriously. She also added her two cents. "You really do move like a dancer, like when you walk. If you do any shows or anything, tell me! I'd love to come!"

Anzu's neck was bright pink at this point. "You guys are too sweet!" She took another sip of her drink before changing the topic. "So, what do you guys want to do? Are you in university?"

Ayumi, Eri, and Yuka nodded. "We all go to one of the universities near here," Yuka pointed to the three of them. "I'm studying pre-med, actually."

Eri replied, "I'm taking computer programming as my major."

Ayumi shrugged. "Haven't decided yet, although I like the idea of fashion designing, or maybe astronomy."

Anzu looked impressed. "Wow, those are really daunting subjects! You guys will be great, though." she parroted their words. "I bet you guys will have a ton of fun with that."

She then looked over at Kagome. "What about you?"

Kagome coughed slightly, "I was always really sick in high school, and wasn't able to complete it. I take online courses though, and I work as a shrine maiden at my house."

Anzu bobbed her head up and down, and opened her mouth to reply, but Eri beat her to the punch. "She's also a pretty good artist. You should see some of the things she draws! Youkai, and giant swords and a ton of dogs, which is funny because she has Buyo, her cat, but anyways-"

Kagome slapped her hand over Eri's mouth to make her stop talking, but she had already caught the attention of Jou, Yugi, and Honda. "Youkai?" Jou rubbed his chin. "That's pretty cool! Could I see some?"

Kagome nearly shifted in her seat, but stopped, seeing Kikyo in front of her with a scorning look on her face, telling her that flinching in the face of something was a show of weakness and that Mikos couldn't show that kind of reaction. Why did it have to be Kikyo? She thought miserably, before replying to Jou's question, "Sure, maybe next time I'll bring some."

This brightened everyone up even more. "Cool!" Yugi cheered. His hand was resting absentmindedly on his golden pyramid. Kagome didn't know where it came from or why he wore it around his neck since it was so big, but she didn't ask him. It sent a shiver down her spin just looking at it, just like when she felt a strong youkai nearby. It wasn't a youkai, she could tell, but it was impure and her powers itched under her skin whenever she looked at it. It was dangerous, and she didn't want it near her newfound friends.

"So, what school do you guys go to? We went to the one near-" Ayumi defected the conversation off of Kagome, knowing how uncomfortable she must have felt with all the questions about her drawings, and Kagome gave her a silent thank you at one of her best friends at reading her so well.

She took a fry from Honda, ignoring his cry of 'Hey!', and sunk back into her seat, listening to everyone around her. Kagome hoped everything would be okay, as her fingers clenched around her deck of Duel Monsters cards, but she knew it wouldn't, because the bad feeling deepened as she thought that. Maybe something would go right this time. Maybe.

* * *

"Souta, catch!" Kagome tossed him the small parcel, and watched as he fumbled to catch it.

Souta gave her a questioning look as he held it in his hands. "Kags? What's this for?"

She smiled. "Just open it."

He did so, a bit confused, but his look of confusion morphed into a happy wide grin as he saw the name of the game. "Sis, you're the best!" The younger boy tackled her in a hug, and the two siblings fell to the floor with a quiet 'umph' from Kagome, and they started snickering at the sight of each other all messed up on the floor, lightly tugging each others hair in mock fight.

Mama Higurashi poked her head out of the living room, Buyo on her heels, and she smiled but shook her head at the sight of her children wrestling on the floor. "Just don't hurt each other," she told them, and left them to their own devices.

Souta got off the floor first and held out his hand to Kagome. "Thanks Kags! I'm gonna play this now- tell Mama that I don't want to be disturbed till dinner!" And then he rushed up the stairs and the door to his room shut loudly.

Kagome snickered, and ran a hand through her hair, noticing the way the strands were uneven. "Ah, I should have gotten a haircut earlier." She muttered to herself, before shrugging. She headed up the stairs, walking past Souta's closed room (hearing the sounds of gunshots firing and car racing, and she shook her head amusedly) before closing her own door to her room after her.

It was bright pink and happy, her bow and arrow were placed haphazardly on the side of her desk collecting dust, and messes of papers (drawings, school work, mostly her writing down exactly what happened in the Feudal Era mostly for her own mental health more then anything) placed over and under it. She didn't even glance at her bow and arrow, not at the slightly shiny quiver of arrows nor the well worn familiar wood of her weapon, but instead sat down on her desk and picked up a blank piece of paper. She drew.

A face through the window watched her, although she couldn't see it. He had white hair and red-brown eyes, and a smile too dangerous to be considered innocent.

"Hey Landlord," he asked the other who was himself lurking around the premises of the shrine, mostly out of interest instead of peeping through the windows. "You're coming back here tomorrow."

Ryou Bakura frowned. "Why?" 'And why were you asking me' was left unsaid, as they both knew that Yami Bakura could simply take over his body whenever he wanted.

"Because I said so. We're leaving." Bakura floated down from the window and walked over to his light, and got sucked back into the Ring. Ryou sighed and began the long trek down the stairs.

Whatever Bakura was planning, it wasn't good.

* * *

**_I decided to continue this, mostly out of my own interest. Still working on the decks and how to play them, unfortunately, but we're getting close._**

**_I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh._**

**_Still dedicated to the amazing Javy._**


	3. Strange

Kagome's week couldn't have been more normal since she had met the high schoolers, and frankly, her instincts were causing her to nearly break a pencil or twelve because the cold feeling that went ever so often down her spine hadn't left since she met them. While Kagome was with them, the feeling only intensified, especially when she was near Yugi, but sometimes during the night she would wake up with that same feeling, only more ominous, and she couldn't peg where the danger was coming from.

It was troubling.

Her deck, was like usual now, held in her hands. She shuffled through them, not really reading the names as the images passed her eyes. (God she cared too much, she couldn't let them go, and Souta only made it harder but she couldn't help but thank him for it.)

_Sango the fighter, Miroku the charmer, Kirara the demon, Rin the flower trap, Jaken the loyalty spell, Kaede the healer, Jakotsu the eager-_

Her fingers stopped flipping, and she tilted her head to look at the flamboyant member of the Band of Seven. Even though his death was because of Renkotsu, and he was an enemy, Kagome always felt a bit dragged down whenever she thought about him. Flirting with Inuyasha, Miroku (ha, finally he felt what the rest of them did whenever he asked Sango or some poor female to carry his children, Kagome couldn't help but grin faintly at the memory) and even _Sesshoumaru _(that took guts) was definitely hilarious, especially with their reactions, but he wasn't too bad of a guy. Not really.

("Keh, you look at people and only see good things, Kagome." Inuyasha's voice in her head told her. "They're enemies, who cares?")

She eyed Jakotsu's card. _An extremely valuable player, Jakotsu wields the Jakotsutō which allows him to move in an unpredictable manor that his opponents cannot follow. Relying on more brute force then an actual plan, Jakotsu has an extremely high attack and counter moves. However, whenever he is hit his strength is lost by one fourth. If on the field at the same time as a male humanoid figure, his first move is always the dangerous 'Infuriating Flirting', which causes the opponent's Monster to become entirely focused on Jakotsu and unable to cause any damage to anyone except Jakotsu. _

Yep, that sounded like him. She eyed his stats. _Attack: 4000 / Defense: 3500. _He was certainly an _extremely _powerful Monster. It was a miracle anyone took him down. Bankotsu was extremely powerful as well, if he would have had a higher attack and defense stat then Jakotsu...

She kept him in mind as she shuffled through the rest of her cards. _Kikyo the miko, Kohaku the tool, Kagura the wind user, Kanna the mirror, Naraku-_

Kagome couldn't help but grimace as she held up his card between two fingers, glancing down at the familiar, devious and smug face of her greatest foe. Why did she have to have him in her deck? In all her memories, he was the one person she wouldn't mind never seeing again, rotting away in hell hopefully.

_Powerful. Too powerful. Too evil. Only taken down by a card that is pure, or else the power of the impure will be absorbed by him, making him even stronger._

She stared at him with distaste in her eyes, and placed him in the bottom of the pile. She wouldn't use him, _ever. _

Kagome was about to flip through the rest of her deck but Jii-chan's voice called down from below, "Kagome! I think one of the swords is possessed!"

The girl groaned, but got up off of her bed and dropped the cards onto her comforter, standing up to go see exactly what was wrong _now _according to her grandfather.. "Jii-chan, how many times must I tell you, the swords are _most likely _not possessed?"

"There's still a chance!"

"I haven't felt anything from any of them!"

"Doesn't matter! I was going to stick an ofuda on it, but then it wouldn't come off and there'd be glue everywhere!"

_"Jii-chan."_

* * *

"So, Landlord, when are you going to stop trailing after the Pharaoh and his band of idiots?" Bakura snarked, and Ryou couldn't help but side eye his Yami in distrust as he watched him play with his own version of the Ring. The library was silent except for the occasional shuffle or cough, and Ryou kept his voice low in case someone was around the corner.

"I'm not trailing," Ryou protested, but quieted down as Bakura shot him a glare."Besides, it was you who wanted us to see what they're up to."

Bakura scoffed. "I didn't mean for you to follow them like some kind of disgusting love-sick puppy." Bakura crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his eyes at his light. "We're going to see the girl again."

Ryou stopped writing in his notebook and glanced up at his yami again. "We can't go visit again-"

"It wasn't an option, Landlord. We're going." Bakura was pulled back into the Ring and Ryou didn't have enough time to fight his darker self before Bakura took over, forcing him into his soul room. Bakura grinned, flexing his fingers, before shoving the notebook Ryou was writing in into Ryou's bag. He walked quickly out of the library, a small quirk of his lips the only shine of emotions on his otherwise blank face as he set off for the train station to buy a ticket to Tokyo.

Ryou slumbered on.

* * *

"Alright! The first thing you need to know about dueling is that there are many different kinds of cards." Yugi set down his own set of cards on the checkout table of the Kame Game shop, where Kagome and her friends were learning the more delicate mechanics of Duel Monsters. At least, that was what Jou and Yugi told them that's what they were going to do, but really only Kagome and Yuka were listening intently, as Eri and Ayumi had long ago disappeared into the corners of the shop, squealing loudly as they found board games from their childhood.

"There are normal monsters, effect monsters, sychro monsters, fusion monsters, ritual monsters, summoning monster cards, and finally the spell and trap cards." Yugi went into lecture mode, his pyramid twisting around his neck as the artificial light made it shimmer. "And they are exactly what they sound like. Normal monsters have higher attack points but less defense points- you can find those anywhere. The effect monsters have special abilities, like when they go to the graveyard being able to revive themselves. The synchro monsters are special monsters with special abilities, you can only summon them from your side deck. Fusion monsters can only be summoned by having the monsters in your deck, and only with the spell card _"Polymerization". _Ritual monsters are summoned by having a special summoning card in your spell deck."

Yugi took a big breath, having said this moderately fast, and Kagome blinked as she absorbed this information. "I see, this is more complex then it seems isn't it?"

Yugi nodded quickly. "Uh-huh! It's actually a very strategic game! But it's really fun though. Once you get used to playing everything will make a lot more sense!"

Jou put in his two cents. "Also, as soon as ya are good enough, ya can join competitions! Those are fun, and with all da new technology bastards like Kaiba are comin' up with, ya can even make da monsters real! Well, holograms, but ya get what I mean."

Kagome paled slightly at his words, but gave him a smile. "Sounds fun! I doubt I'll ever get that good, though."

Jou shrugged. "With training ya could."

Yugi got back Kagome's attention, and Yuka, who was standing there silently throughout the whole exchange asked him, "So what about the spell and trap cards?"

Yugi brightened. "Spell cards are really cool! They can help you destroy your opponent's monsters, or give you power boosts! Trap cards are like spell cards, but unlike spell cards, they can be activated during your opponent's turn, so instead of using your turn to use a spell card, you can call up your trap card to play without having to sacrifice a turn! They're mostly used strategically unlike spell cards, because with the trap cards you can easily create chains to beat the other person's monsters. And you can also bluff them into thinking a spell card is a trap or a trap card is a spell, but we'll get to that later."

"That sounds... extremely useful." Yuka said, and Kagome agreed.

Jou slapped Kagome on the back. "Still, even tho' the spell cards and trap cards are fun, ya should see the duels we have against Kaiba, with da monsters- it's awesome! Not ta mention ya could see me kick his ass even wit' his Blue Eyes, my Red Eyes is a lot better." Jou proudly help up a card, one that read 'Red Eyes Black Dragon', and he seemed happy that Kagome and Yuka looked suitably impressed.

"That's a good idea, Jou!" Yugi grinned brightly. "How about next time we duel, you guys can come along! That'd be fun, wouldn't it?"

Kagome smiled. "Sure! I'd love to come. Yuka, how about you?"

Yuka replied, "Of course! I'd love to see such legends in action!"

Yugi rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, a light blush forming on his cheeks at Yuka's words, while Jou puffed out proudly.

"Alright! It's a plan! Next time we meet up, we'll show you a real duel!" Jou gave Yugi a fist bump, and Eri and Ayumi, who had finished prowling the shop and had emerged carrying many board games, asked what was going on.

As Yuka explained what they were doing, Kagome zoned out a bit, staring intently at Yugi's puzzle and trying to push a little bit of her purifying powers into the air to see what would happen. Unfortunately, she pushed a little bit too much (focusing was never her strong point, pure power was, and unless she had an arrow or something clear to focus on instead of just air she could usually succeed with a little effort) and Yugi winced as his puzzle lit up, shining brightly for a second and melting away at the chain that held it before cooling down again.

No one but Kagome and Yugi seemed to notice, however.

Kagome narrowed her eyes. Something was going on.

* * *

_**Thank you everyone for everything, and I think I've digested enough Duel Monsters to become a game referee, lol.**_

_**Still for Jav-Jav. *hearts***_

_**Also, finally some plot!**_

_**I don't own Yu-Gi-Oh or Inuyasha.**_


End file.
